Housing dilemma

[ann]

I had a pair of gouldians and a pair of parrot finches sharing a very large cage. The parrot finch hen escaped, and I replaced her but unfortunately she turned out to be a he. The two male parrots started picking on the gouldians, so I moved them to another cage. Now the parrots are picking on each other.

I can't separate them because I don't have a big enough cage. I would love to buy 2 parrot hens, but I can't afford that right now. I've asked a few local breeders if they would trade a hen for one of my males, but they say they have no hens.

Would it be a bad idea to add 2 society hens to the cage? Would that even help stop the fighting? I would appreciate any ideas!

[debbie276]

I doubt very much that would help your situation at all.
The cage that the parrot finches are in, is it wide enough to be able to divide in half?

[Finnie]

It sounds like the two male parrot finches cannot get along? Would it work out to house one of them by himself and the other with the pair of Gouldians?

Maybe eventually you can find a hen for the lone guy. Or people who know more about them than I do can tell you what kind of other bird can live with the lone guy to keep him company.

[ann]

Debbie, I like that idea but it would be structurally impossible to divide the cage in half. When I built it I only made one small door, which is dead center, and the cage has a pitched top plus no real bottom, just a sliding tray.

Finnie, I could try to see if one of the parrots could be housed with the Gouldians, but that still would require 2 cages. I have a small house and these cages take up a lot of room.

[Finnie]

Oh, it sounded like you already had them in two cages.

You could always sell the extra male parrot finch.

[ann]

Finnie, I think that's what I will have to do, sell the more aggressive parrot finch and then buy a hen when I can find one. As soon as he is gone I can move all the birds back to one large cage, and hopefully they will all get along.

[debbie276]

Can't you move one parrot finch in with the goulds and leave one where it is seeing how you have the goulds in one cage and the parrot finches in another right now?

[ann]

Debbie, thank you, I just did that, I moved the less aggressive parrot finch in with the gouldians. He chased them for a minute, and now they are all just sitting around staring at each other. The parrot by himself is just sitting there, looking lonely. One of the things I loved about the parrots is that they were so fun to watch - always busy tearing up plants, bathing, causing mischief, and now they are so quiet! But so far everything is peaceful, and that's what we needed. I hope the peace continues.

[debbie276]

Good luck, hope it continues to remain peaceful.